Looking Into the Sun
by Some1FoundMe
Summary: Sophie is standing at the window, her little body glowing in the golden rays of light that spill into her room. At three years old, she is the love of his life. The spitting image of her mother, his daughter had stolen his heart the moment she had looked up at him with her big blue eyes. **Future Fic* * This was supposed to be a short little drabble...


**Title:** Looking Into the Sun

 **Author:** Some1FoundMe

 **Summary:** Sophie is standing at the window, her little body glowing in the golden rays of light that spill into her room. At three years old, she is the love of his life. The spitting image of her mother, his daughter had stolen his heart the moment she had looked up at him with her big blue eyes **. **Future Fic* *** This was supposed to be a short little drabble that ended up being something like 1500 words. Anyway, I was inspired by a photo that popped up on my Tumblr which can be found through the link in my profile.

 **Disclaimer:** I (sadly) do not own Arrow. Or the photo that inspired this fic.

 **A/N:** So I know I sort of dropped off the face of the earth for a few weeks but some major life changes have happened. I got a new job (yay!) but that job required a major move so I've been super stressed and crazy busy. But work has started and my internet was connected today (finally!) so I should be back on track!

 **Looking Into the Sun**

He steps through their front door with the sun rising at his back. It has been a long night. A long, exhausting, troublesome night, one that he'd had to face without her voice in his ear guiding him.

Kicking off his shoes in the entryway, Oliver pads quietly across the open living room and down the hall that will lead him to their bedroom. But the soft sound of his wife's voice doesn't come from the master suite at the end of the hall. Instead, it comes from the partially opened door of their daughter's bedroom.

"You look beautiful, baby girl," Felicity says, "Did Aunt Thea help you make that?"

Oliver peeks around the door, careful not to make a sound, and catches sight of his wife where she's laid out on the bedroom floor, her head propped up in her hand. Sophie is standing at the window, her little body glowing in the golden rays of light that spill into her room. At three years old, she is the love of his life. The spitting image of her mother, his daughter had stolen his heart the moment she had looked up at him with her big blue eyes.

"Yep!" she exclaims in response to Felicity's question.

Her little hands reach up to adjust the ring of flowers that encircle her head. He doesn't know why his sister made the decorative piece for Sophie but he knows that she hasn't taken it off in the two days since she'd come home with it. They'd left Sophie with her aunt while they'd spent a couple of days in the hospital.

"But this one is mine," Sophie continues, her little voice ringing brightly in the room, "Aunty T will have to make one for sissy."

He smirks and shakes his head, glancing at the door across the hall that has been pulled closed.

"I'm sure Aunt Thea will make one for sissy when she's bigger. I think she's a little too small for flowers, don't you?"

Sophie shrugs, twirling around to pull something from her toy box when she spots him. Her face lights up, eyes going wide, and she giggles before launching herself into his arms. Oliver scoops her up and holds her close.

"There's my beautiful girl."

He presses a loud, exaggerated kiss to her cheek and Sophie squeals delightedly.

"Oliver!" Felicity admonishes, "You'll wake the baby!"

She comes up behind him, arms sliding around his waist and she lays her cheek against his shoulder.

He'd left them – rather reluctantly – the night before in order to help his team take down the latest threat to their city. He feels an immense sense of guilt at leaving his wife home alone with their toddler and newborn even though he'd gone at her insistence.

"Momma says sissy can get her own flowers."

He grins at Sophie as he feels Felicity laugh against his back.

"Don't you want to share with Hadley?" he asks, already knowing the answer.

His baby shakes her head, bottom lip sticking out in a pout. She bats her long lashes at him and Oliver knows he's in trouble. She is exactly like her mother.

"No, Daddy. It's mine."

He sighs, trying not to laugh, and squeezes her, his fingers dancing across her ribcage, the action eliciting another peel of laughter from her. Felicity smacks his arm.

"Oliver! Quit that! If she wakes up, you're on diaper duty!"

He opens his mouth to tell her that he'll happily take care of their youngest if she wants to try to get some rest or take a shower when the muffled cries of a newborn reach their ears. Felicity groans, her head falling more sharply between his shoulder blades.

"Forty-five minutes. That's it. Forty-five minutes."

Oliver presses one last sloppy kiss to Sophie's cheek before settling her on her bed. He turns to his wife and takes her by the shoulders. He steers her from Sophie's bedroom, pulling the door up behind him, and when she starts to head for the nursery, he stops her and guides her into their room. He can sense her need to protest even before she opens her mouth.

"Take a nap," he encourages her, cutting off whatever she was going to say, "Or a shower. Or whatever you want. Let me take Hadley."

Felicity sighs, "What if she's hungry? You can't exactly handle that, Oliver."

She gestures randomly at her chest and the action makes him grin.

"When did she eat last? How long do I have?"

She shrugs, "Maybe half an hour… if you're lucky."

The cries of their sweet new edition grow louder and he begins to back his way out of the room.

"I'll take my chances. Relax, sweetheart, I can handle this."

And he knows that he can. They managed to raise Sophie – their surprise baby – without any major hiccups. There'd definitely been a few bumps along the away but in the end, they'd wound up with a perfectly healthy, incredibly bright little girl who shone like the sun. Because that was Sophie. She was everything in his eyes. She was the best of both of them.

Stepping into the nursery, he is assaulted by the wailing of their littlest one whose lungs she apparently inherited from her mother.

"Shh, shh, shh."

He picks up the bundle that is Hadley Josephine Queen and cradles her carefully against his chest. He bounces with her as he moves around the room.

"It's okay, baby girl," he coos, "It's okay. Daddy missed you tonight."

He keeps talking to her, fully aware of the fact that she in no way understands him, as he lays her out on her changing table. With practiced ease he rids her of her soiled diaper before swaddling her in a clean one and redressing her in the outfit Felicity had put her in. It's tiny and pink and covered in little purple elephants and he can't help shaking his head at her choice. For the last three years, his life has been filled with frilly dresses and sparkly shoes and big hair bows. It has revolved around the laughter of one innocent little girl who has invaded every aspect of his heart and his soul and he wouldn't change a moment of this life that he's been blessed with. And now there's a second little girl to occupy his heart. Another beautiful baby who is half of him and half of Felicity.

It only takes a few moments of rocking before Hadley is fast asleep again and he settles her into her crib. His fingers ghost over the downy curls on the top of her head. He moves for the door, shutting it softly behind him, and peeks into Sophie's room again on his way to check on Felicity.

Her little blonde head is haloed by the ring of artificial flowers that Thea'd made for her. The flowers, bright and big, slip down over her forehead as she stands on her tiptoes to peer out of her window. She's chattering quietly to herself and he can't hear a thing she's saying, but she seems perfectly content to keep herself occupied so he leaves her for the time being to find his wife.

Felicity is stretched out on his side of the bed when he enters their room, her tablet propped up on a pillow across her stomach.

"What are you doing?"

She jolts, the piece of tech slipping from her fingers, and looks up at him guiltily.

"Uh… nothing," she says quickly, "I wasn't doing anything."

He sits on the edge of the mattress, retrieving the tablet before she can make a grab for it. He turns it off without glancing at the screen, ignoring the pout she's giving him.

"I thought you were going to relax. You've been home with the girls all night. You can't tell me that you're not exhausted."

She shrugs, "I'm fine."

But the dark circles under her eyes say otherwise so he sets her tablet on the nightstand and climbs onto the bed, curling himself around her. She falls easily into his chest.

"How was it tonight?" she asks.

"It was good. No problems."

"Good."

He kisses her temple, "Get some sleep, Felicity."

"What about the kids?" she questions, yawning mid-sentence.

"I'll stay awake. Sophie is in her room playing and Hadley should be out for a while. Sleep."

She yawns again and he knows she won't last much longer. She snuggles against him, letting her head settle into the crook of his neck. His arms are around her, drawing her in, and when her weight is pressed against him, he lets himself relax and settle into the mattress.

When he knows that she's asleep, he reaches across her and picks up her tablet. The live feed of Sophie's room appears side-by-side with the feed of Hadley's nursery and he smiles, shaking his head. He is surrounded by woman, his gorgeous wife who has stayed by his side through every terrible moment and the two most precious gifts that he's ever been given. It's enough. More than enough. Because it – _they_ are everything.


End file.
